Cross-platform

ABOUT THIS BOOK
* Create, configure, and customize stunning platform-specific features as well as cross-platform UIs with the power of Xamarin Forms.
* Maximize the testability, flexibility, and overall quality of your Xamarin apps.
* Get the most out of Xamarin.Forms and create your own reusablemore » templates with C# scripting in Xamarin.
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
If you are a mobile developer with basic knowledge of Xamarin and C# coding, then this book is for you.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
* Develop stunning native cross-platform apps using the Xamarin.Forms framework
* Work with the different UI layouts to create customized layouts using the C# programming language and tweak it for a given platform
* Customize the user interface using DataTemplates and CustomRenderers and the Platform Effects API to change the appearance of control elements
* Build hybrid apps using the Razor Template Engine and create Razor Models that communicate with a SQLite database
* Use location based features within your app to display the user's current location
* Work with the Xamarin.Forms Map control to display Pin placeholders based on the stored latitude and longitude coordinates
* Understand and use the MVVM pattern architecture to navigate between each of your ViewModels and implement Data Binding to display and update information
* Work with the Microsoft Azure Platform to incorporate API Data Access using Microsoft Azure App Services and the RESTful API
* Incorporate third-party features within your app using the Facebook SDK and the Open Graph API
* Perform unit testing and profile your Xamarin.Forms applications
* Deploy your apps to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store
IN DETAIL
Xamarin is the most powerful cross-platform mobile development framework. If you are interested in creating stunning user interfaces for the iOS and Android mobile platforms using the power of Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms, then this is your ticket.
This book will provide you the practical skills required to develop real-world Xamarin applications. You will learn how to implement UI structures and layouts, create customized elements, and write C# scripts to customize layouts. You will create UI layouts from scratch so that you can tweak and customize a given UI layout to suit your needs by using Data Templates.
Moving on, you will use third-party libraries – such as the Razor template engine that allows you to create your own HTML5 templates within the Xamarin environment – to build a book library Hybrid solution that uses the SQLite.Net library to store, update, retrieve, and delete information within a SQLite local database. You'll also implement key data-binding techniques that will make your user interfaces dynamic, and create personalized animations and visual effects within your user interfaces using Custom Renderers and the PlatformEffects API to customize and change the appearance of control elements.
At the end of this book, you will test your application UI for robust and consistent behavior and then explore techniques to deploy to different platforms.
STYLE AND APPROACH
This easy to follow guide will walk you through building a real world Xamarin.Forms mobile app from start to finish. Each chapter builds upon the app using a step-by-step methodology that applies new advanced functionalities, design patterns, and best practices. « less

Looking to build cross platform mobile applications? This hands-on guide provides a basic introduction and overview to the Ionic Framework, including some new services on the platform. You’ll learn a balanced approach to the mix of technologies—such as AngularJS, SASS, and Apache Cordova—that the Ionicmore » Framework leverages. Through the course of this book, you’ll be able to complete several production ready applications. It's ideal for beginning, intermediate, and advanced web developers. « less

With the fragmented landscape of mobile device platforms, tools for creating cross-platform apps have sprung up as varied and numerous as apps themselves. Most of these tools create their own APIs and translate them into the mobile platform APIs, which works fine for some. And then there’s Xamarin.Forms,more » which creates mappings from its C# classes and controls directly to the native platform APIs and controls. With Xamarin.Forms Succinctly by Derek Jensen, you will learn how to use Xamarin.Forms to build a common code base that can be deployed to iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices, coming as close as possible as to the mythical “write once, run everywhere.” You’ll also learn how to build UIs with some of the 40 controls included in Xamarin.Forms, and even how to access native APIs that aren’t exposed by Xamarin.Forms. « less

This book walks the developer through the process of tailoring their apps in order to appeal to a global market. Microsoft MVP Chris Miller steps you through the process of enabling multiple language support, while using a single shared set of language resources using the .NET Framework. .NET makes itmore » easy to support multiple languages and cultures.
Starting with a simple mobile application, the author demonstrates how to adapt it for the Android, iOS, and Windows platforms, showing how to handle the localization with resource files and how to handle internationalization on each platform.
Readers will learn how to test the application for the localization support and how to avoid common pitfalls. Using Xamarin.Forms and Visual Studio, the app will be implemented for Android, iOS, and Windows 10 UWP and 99% of the code will be shared across the platforms.
What You Will Learn:
* Localization and Internationalization and why they matter
* How multiple languages are supported on each platform
* How cultural differences like dates and currencies are handled
* How to use tools like Microsoft’s Multilingual App Toolkit to manage language resources
* How to create an localized, cross-platform app with Android Studio, Xcode, Xamarin and Visual Studio tools
* How to get help translating the text from the application
Who This Book Is For:
Mobile app developers currently writing native apps for Windows Phone, Android, and iOS. The Android and iOS native apps will be written using Xamarin and also with the native tool kits, the Windows apps with the stock Visual Studio tools. « less

Get a practical introduction to React Native, the JavaScript framework for writing and deploying fully featured mobile apps that look and feel native. With this hands-on guide, you’ll learn how to build applications that target iOS, Android, and other mobile platforms instead of browsers. You’ll alsomore » discover how to access platform features such as the camera, user location, and local storage.
With code examples and step-by-step instructions, author Bonnie Eisenman shows web developers and frontend engineers how to build and style interfaces, use mobile components, and debug and deploy apps. Along the way, you’ll build several increasingly sophisticated sample apps with React Native before putting everything together at the end.
* Learn how React Native provides an interface to native UI components
* Examine how the framework uses native components analogous to HTML elements
* Create and style your own React Native components and applications
* Install modules for APIs and features not supported by the framework
* Get tools for debugging your code, and for handling issues outside of JavaScript
* Put it all together with the Zebreto effective-memorization flashcard app
* Deploy apps to the iOS App Store and Google’s Play Store « less

KEY FEATURES
* Develop your Xamarin development skills with this comprehensive guide on various patterns and features so you can create elegant and high-quality applications
* Create adaptive user interfaces on separate platforms without compromising the user experience and platform identity
* Implementmore » application lifecycle management concepts to manage and finalize cross-platform projects and efficiently collaborate with others
BOOK DESCRIPTION
The main goal of this book is to equip you with the required know-how to successfully analyze, develop, and manage Xamarin cross-platform projects using the most efficient, robust, and scalable implementation patterns.
This book starts with general topics such as memory management, asynchronous programming, local storage, and networking, and later moves onto platform-specific features. During this transition, you will learn about key tools to leverage the patterns described, as well as advanced implementation strategies and features. The book also presents User Interface design and implementation concepts on Android and iOS platforms from a Xamarin and cross-platform perspective, with the goal to create a consistent but native UI experience.
Finally, we show you the toolset for application lifecycle management to help you prepare the development pipeline to manage and see cross-platform projects through to public or private release.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
* Configure your environment for cross-platform projects with Xamarin
* Gain memory management skills to avoid memory leaks and premature code cycles while decreasing the memory print of your applications
* Employ asynchronous and parallel patterns to execute non-interactive and non-blocking processes
* Create and use SQLite databases for offline scenarios
* Integrate network resources with cross-platform applications
* Design and implement eye-catching and reusable UI components without compromising nativity in mobile applications
* Manage the application lifecycle of cross-platform development projects
* Distribute Xamarin applications through public or private channels
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Can Bilgin currently works for Authority Partners Inc. as a program architect. He has been working in the software industry, primarily with Microsoft technologies, for over a decade and has been recognized as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for his technical contributions. In this period, he played key roles in projects for high profile clients using technologies such as BizTalk, SharePoint, Dynamics CRM, Xamarin, WCF, and other web technologies.
His main passion lies in mobile and IoT development using the modern toolset available for developers.
He tries to share his experience on his blog (http://canbilgin.wordpress.com), social media (@can_bilgin), and through speaking engagements at both local and international conferences and community events in the Balkans region.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Developing with Xamarin
2. Memory Management
3. Asynchronous Programming
4. Local Data Management
5. Networking
6. Platform Extras
7. View Elements
8. Xamarin.Forms
9. Reusable UI Patterns
10. ALM – Developers and QA
11. ALM – Project and Release Management
12. ALM – App Stores and Publishing « less

*** Key Features ***
* Create a useful PhoneGap workflow for larger projects in order to simplify and manage the development process
* Use third-party plugins, IndexedDB, and SQLite for PhoneGap to develop large-scale, data-driven, and highly accessible applications
* A pragmatic guide to constructmore » top-notch large-scale applications using PhoneGap
*** Book Description ***
PhoneGap is a useful and flexible tool that enables you to create complex hybrid applications for mobile platforms. In addition to the core technology, there is a large and vibrant community that creates third-party plugins that can take your app to the next level.
This book will guide you through the process of creating a complex data-driven hybrid mobile application using PhoneGap, web technologies, and third-party plugins.
A good foundation is critical, so you will learn how to create a useful workflow to make development easier. From there, the next version of JavaScript (ES6) and the CSS pre-processor SASS are introduced as a way to simplify creating the look of the mobile application. Responsive design techniques are also covered, including the flexbox layout module. As many apps are data-driven, you'll build an application throughout the course of the book that relies upon IndexedDB and SQLite. You'll also download additional content and address how to handle in-app purchases. Furthermore, you'll build your own customized plugins for your particular use case. When the app is complete, the book will guide you through the steps necessary to submit your app to the Google Play and Apple iTunes stores.
*** What you will learn ***
* Construct build workflows that simplify complex application development
* Integrate the next version of JavaScript to simplify your code
* Create accessible hybrid applications
* Persist and query data using third-party database plugins
* Create your own PhoneGap plugins for your unique use cases
* Create icons and splash screens suitable for submission to app stores
* Publish your app to the Google Play and Apple iTunes stores
*** About the Author ***
Kerri Shotts has worked with computers for nearly 25 years. Her love for technology and programming started when she was introduced to her first computer: a Commodore 64. She obtained a degree in computer science while at college, and moved on to become a software test engineer. Afterward, she became an Oracle Database Administrator for several years. Now, she works as a technology consultant, creating, implementing, and maintaining custom applications (both desktop and mobile), websites, graphics and logos, and more for her clients. You can find her blog posts on her website (http://www.photokandy.com/) and she is active on the Google Groups for PhoneGap. When she isn't working, she enjoys photography, music, and fish keeping. She is the author of several books published by Packt Publishing.
*** Table of Contents ***
1. Task Automation
2. ECMAScript 2015 and Browserify
3. Sassy CSS
4. More Responsive Design
5. Hybrid Application Accessibility
6. Testing and UI Automation
7. IndexedDB
8. Web SQL Database
9. Transferring Files
10. Performance
11. Graphical Assets
12. Deployment « less

Answer the question "Can we build this for ALL the devices?" with a resounding YES. Learn how to build apps using seven different platforms: Mobile Web, iOS, Android, Windows, RubyMotion, React Native, and Xamarin. Find out which cross-platform solution makes the most sense for your needs, whether you'remore » new to mobile or an experienced developer expanding your options. Start covering all of the mobile world today.
Understanding the idioms, patterns, and quirks of the modern mobile platforms gives you the power to choose how you develop. Over seven weeks you'll build seven different mobile apps using seven different tools. You'll start out with Mobile Web; develop native apps on iOS, Android, and Windows; and finish by building apps for multiple operating systems using the native cross-platform solutions RubyMotion, React Native, and Xamarin.
For each platform, you'll build simple, but non-trivial, apps that consume JSON data, run on multiple screen sizes, or store local data. You'll see how to test, how to build views, and how to structure code. You'll find out how much code it's possible to share, how much of the underlying platform you still need to know, and ultimately, you'll get a firm understanding of how to build apps on whichever devices your users prefer.
This book gives you enough first-hand experience to weigh the trade-offs when building mobile apps. You'll compare writing apps on one platform versus another and understand the benefits and hidden costs of cross-platform tools. You'll get pragmatic, hands-on experience writing apps in a multi-platform world.
What You Need:
You'll need a computer and some experience programming. When we cover iOS, you'll need a Mac, and when we cover Windows Phone you'll need a computer with Windows on it. It's helpful if you have access to an iPhone, Android phone, and Windows Phone to run the examples on the devices where mobile apps are ultimately deployed, but the simulators or emulator versions of those phones work great. « less

KEY FEATURES
* Write native cross-platform applications with Xamarin
* Design user interfaces that can be shared across Android, iOS, and Windows Phone using Xamarin.Forms
* Practical cross-platform development strategies
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Xamarin is a leading cross-platform application developmentmore » tool used by top companies such as Coca-Cola, Honeywell, and Alaska Airlines to build apps. Version 4 features significant updates to the platform including the release of Xamarin.Forms 2.0 and improvements have been made to the iOS and Android designers. Xamarin was acquired by Microsoft so it is now a part of the Visual Studio family.
This book will show you how to build applications for iOS, Android, and Windows. You will be walked through the process of creating an application that comes complete with a back-end web service and native features such as GPS location, camera, push notifications, and other core features. Additionally, you'll learn how to use external libraries with Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms to create user interfaces. This book also provides instructions for Visual Studio and Windows.
This edition has been updated with new screenshots and detailed steps to provide you with a holistic overview of the new features in Xamarin 4.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
* Apple's MVC design pattern
* The Android activity lifecycle
* Share C# code across platforms and call native Objective-C or Java libraries from C#
* Create a real web service back end in Windows Azure using SQL Azure as database storage
* Set up third-party libraries such as NuGet and Objective Sharpie in many different ways, and port a desktop .NET library to Xamarin
* Use Xamarin.Mobile for camera, contacts, and location
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Peppers is a Xamarin MVP and lead developer on popular apps and games at Hitcents such as the Hanx Writer (for Tom Hanks) and the Draw a Stickman franchise. Jon has been working with C# for over 10 years working on a wide range of projects at Hitcents. Jon began his career working Self-Checkout software written in WinForms and later migrated to WPF. Over his career, he has worked with many .NET-centric technologies such as ASP.Net WebForms, MVC, Windows Azure, WinRT/UWP, F#, and Unity3D.
In recent years, Hitcents has been heavily investing in mobile development with Xamarin, and has development over 50 mobile applications across multiple platforms.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Xamarin Setup
2. Hello, Platforms!
3. Code Sharing Between iOS and Android
4. XamSnap - A Cross-Platform App
5. XamSnap for iOS
6. XamSnap for Android
7. Deploying and Testing on Devices
8. Contacts, Camera, and Location
9. Web Services with Push Notifications
10. Third-Party Libraries
11. Xamarin.Forms
12. App Store Submission « less

KEY FEATURES
* Helps you get a clear practical understanding of creating professional-grade apps with Xamarin
* Covers Xamarin.Forms, Xamarin Android, and Xamarin iOS
* If you want to transform yourself from an amateur mobile developer into a professional app developer across multiple platforms,more » then this is the ideal book for you
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Do you want to create powerful, efficient, and independent apps from scratch that will leverage the Xamarin framework and code with C#? Well, look no further; you’ve come to the right place!
This is a learn-as-you-build practical guide to building eight full-fledged applications using Xamarin.Forms, Xamarin Android, and Xamarin iOS.
Each chapter includes a project, takes you through the process of building applications (such as a gallery Application, a text-to-speech service app, a GPS locator app, and a stock market app), and will show you how to deploy the application’s source code to a Google Cloud Source Repository. Other practical projects include a chat and a media-editing app, as well as other examples fit to adorn any developer’s utility belt.
In the course of building applications, this book will teach you how to design and prototype professional-grade applications implementing performance and security considerations.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
* Discover eight different ways to create your own Xamarin applications
* Improve app performance by using SQLite for data-intensive applications
* Set up a simple web service to feed JSON data into mobile applications
* Store files locally with Xamarin.Forms using dependency services
* Use Xamarin extension libraries to create effective applications with less coding
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Williams is an Insightful, results-driven full stack developer with notable experience in cross-platform development using Xamarin and native languages for multiple platforms. He also builds and researches server-side architecture using CQRS and event-sourcing. He shares his knowledge on his personal blog at (www.imobservable.com).
Also an entrepreneur, the owner of Flush Arcade, a company involved in developing creative, innovative, and ideative games (www.flusharcade.com).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Building a Gallery Application
2. Building a SpeechTalk Application
3. Building a GPS Locator Application
4. Building an Audio Player Application
5. Building a Stocklist Application
6. Building a Chat Application
7. Building a File Storage Application
8. Building a Camera Application « less